Solutions Consultant Team Lead - Cayuse

At Cayuse, we are committed to our customers’ success by empowering organizations to conduct globally connected research that advances their impact on science, discovery and society. We build on that commitment with proven, integrated and easy-to-use technology that delivers exceptional value, and world class service and support that accelerates outcomes.

Cayuse is seeking a Solutions Consultant Team Lead with hands-on experience in pre- and post-award research administration to lead customer-facing solution engagements and develop our Solutions Consulting team. This player-coach will personally deliver discovery, demonstrations, and solution validation while improving the team’s product expertise, presentation quality, and execution.

The ideal candidate has worked within a sponsored programs office, research administration function, or comparable research organization and understands the operational challenges faced by researchers, administrators, finance teams, and institutional leaders.

Responsibilities

Solution Engagements & Sales Support

• Lead pre- and post-award solution engagements, discovery, and tailored demonstrations across proposal development, submission, sponsored project/award management, agreements, fund management, and project effort workflows.
• Partner with Account Executives and Strategic Account Managers to uncover business problems, define success criteria, shape win themes, and advance new business.
• Demonstrate complete workflows, connecting capabilities to reduced administrative effort, stronger oversight, financial visibility, collaboration, and the researcher experience.
• Lead strategic presentations, proofs of concept, and solution validation; identify product gaps, implementation considerations, and integration requirements early.
• Provide accurate product-fit assessments, RFP/RFI responses, review solution content, and advise Sales Leadership on go/no-go decisions.

Team Leadership & Coaching

• Lead weekly coaching, call shadowing, and demonstration reviews with actionable feedback on discovery, storytelling, objection handling, and value articulation.
• Coordinate assignments and coverage based on expertise, capacity, opportunity priority, and customer deadlines while maintaining an active personal demo workload.
• Build onboarding plans, module certification standards, recorded training, and reusable demo scenarios.
• Identify skill and performance gaps early, partnering with the VP of Sales on development plans, performance feedback, and hiring needs.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Product Management to share recurring customer needs, competitive insights, and product gaps in a prioritized format.
• Collaborate with Implementation, Professional Services, Customer Success, and Support to validate assumptions and support effective sales handoffs.
• Contribute to sales enablement, competitive positioning, and consistent messaging across higher education, healthcare, and research organizations.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of combined experience in research administration, sponsored programs, solutions consulting, or related work, including substantial hands-on experience within a research institution.
• Direct experience across both pre- and post-award operations with depth in at least one and a practical understanding of how the two connect.
• Working knowledge of proposal development, sponsor submissions, award setup, agreements, award administration, effort reporting, and research financial management.
• Experience using, administering, selecting, or implementing electronic research administration systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead engaging presentations, facilitate discovery, and communicate with operational staff, researchers, and executive stakeholders.
• Experience coaching, mentoring, or leading colleagues with the ability to set expectations and build accountability.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience; willingness to travel for customer meetings, conferences, and team activities as needed.
• Experience in software presales, solutions consulting, or vendor evaluation.
• Experience with Cayuse or comparable pre- and post-award platforms and familiarity with ERP/finance integration requirements.
• CRA, CPRA, or CFRA certification; involvement in professional associations like NCURA or SRAI is a plus.